Original hemi dart information - Page 198

mopar68 · 10-27-2012, 06:24 PM

"Tim, who lives in Canandaigua, New York, is the fourth owner of the Dart pictured here, and he is the first to street-license the car. The original owner, Charlie Castaldo, raced the Dart and in 1968 won a York, Pennsylvania event sponsored by Super Stock magazine. With the help of friends Al Vespucci, Norm Delooza, Lester Manche, Mike Wirt and Mike Guenther, Tim painstakingly restored the Dodge Red Dart inside and out over a 3 1/2-year period. 'I wanted all areas of the car to be of equal quality,' he said."--MOPAR MUSCLE October/November 1991

M68

Liteweight · 10-27-2012, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mopar68

"Tim, who lives in Canandaigua, New York, is the fourth owner of the Dart pictured here, and he is the first to street-license the car. The original owner, Charlie Castaldo, raced the Dart and in 1968 won a York, Pennsylvania event sponsored by Super Stock magazine. With the help of friends Al Vespucci, Norm Delooza, Lester Manche, Mike Wirt and Mike Guenther, Tim painstakingly restored the Dodge Red Dart inside and out over a 3 1/2-year period. 'I wanted all areas of the car to be of equal quality,' he said."--MOPAR MUSCLE October/November 1991

M68

When I got this car, I thought, "hey great!!!!! this one I don't have to do any searching or, documenting. It's all done."
WOW!!!!!! was I ever wrong . 10 years & still nothing.
There were alot of magazine articles done of this car in the late 80's early 90's shortly after Tim finished it. All with the same background stories of it.This thing saw ALOT of print. Unfortunately tho, alot of that information was incorrect.
The good thing tho, is that it is a great original car that survived fates others didn't. I am just it's current caretaker trying to find it's true history for future generations.

liteweight

mopar68 · 10-28-2012, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liteweight

When I got this car, I thought, "hey great!!!!! this one I don't have to do any searching or, documenting. It's all done."
WOW!!!!!! was I ever wrong . 10 years & still nothing.

What was the first thing about the car that caused you to suspect it wasn't Castaldo's old car?

M68

Liteweight · 10-28-2012, 08:52 PM

I wanted to get more info & pictures for my new ride (2001). I started searching for Charlie Castaldo, only to find he had passed a few years previous.
At a car show in Carlisle, I met a guy who knew one of Castaldo's crew members, Charlie Licata. So, I contacted Licata & he started telling me about some of the mods they did to Castaldo's auto car including cutting out the trans tunnel & installing a 4 speed. They modified the rear wheel well openings by flaring them, cut out the trunk floor for a different fuel tank, & installed fiberglass,titanium & nylon bolts onto everything that wasn't structure related to run A/MP.
My car hasn't had any of these mods done to it. Never had a stick in it. The biggest mod on my car is the mini tubs.
So, basically, a 1/2 hour telephone conversation crushed many years of hear say & rumours.

liteweight

Hemi Moose · 10-30-2012, 07:50 PM

Liteweight, have you tried that fellow who writes those Super Stock authenticity books, (Darrel Davis) because he used to work for Chrysler apparently and has a ton of documentation from them...he also has access to the IBM cards that verifies all of the factory race cars they built...maybe give him a shot, it can't hurt.

Liteweight · 10-30-2012, 09:21 PM

Haven't tried that yet, Great idea. Will get back with results. Thanx HM
Hey, any idea where Paul C. is hiding???

liteweight

fatboy1875 · 11-10-2012, 05:21 PM

my name is Noah Lutman, my father-in-law was friends/worked with Doug Warren and originally painted "checkmate"! His name is Barry Pell, they worked together at Bill Binko Chrysler. Barry has pictures of the car before paint but not after, and would like to see if anyone has pictures of the car. Thank You!

Hemi Moose · 11-10-2012, 05:33 PM

Here's a couple of the '68 Hemi Barracuda called 'Checkmate'...

fatboy1875 · 11-10-2012, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Here's the original 'Checkmate' B029 Hemi Barracuda...the car was sold to Bullet Bob Reed, and later on to a few more recent owners.

how do i see these pictures, they won't open?

Hemi Moose · 11-10-2012, 06:15 PM

Noah, the old Checkmate B029 Hemi Barracuda was for sale last year at Mecum auction...

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de...=FL0111-103147

10-27-2012, 06:24 PM	#1971
mopar68 VIP Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,660 Likes: 8 Liked 44 Times in 27 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information "Tim, who lives in Canandaigua, New York, is the fourth owner of the Dart pictured here, and he is the first to street-license the car. The original owner, Charlie Castaldo, raced the Dart and in 1968 won a York, Pennsylvania event sponsored by Super Stock magazine. With the help of friends Al Vespucci, Norm Delooza, Lester Manche, Mike Wirt and Mike Guenther, Tim painstakingly restored the Dodge Red Dart inside and out over a 3 1/2-year period. 'I wanted all areas of the car to be of equal quality,' he said."--MOPAR MUSCLE October/November 1991 M68 __________________ "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Tacitus

10-28-2012, 08:52 PM	#1974
Liteweight VIP Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,280 Likes: 23 Liked 31 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information I wanted to get more info & pictures for my new ride (2001). I started searching for Charlie Castaldo, only to find he had passed a few years previous. At a car show in Carlisle, I met a guy who knew one of Castaldo's crew members, Charlie Licata. So, I contacted Licata & he started telling me about some of the mods they did to Castaldo's auto car including cutting out the trans tunnel & installing a 4 speed. They modified the rear wheel well openings by flaring them, cut out the trunk floor for a different fuel tank, & installed fiberglass,titanium & nylon bolts onto everything that wasn't structure related to run A/MP. My car hasn't had any of these mods done to it. Never had a stick in it. The biggest mod on my car is the mini tubs. So, basically, a 1/2 hour telephone conversation crushed many years of hear say & rumours. liteweight Last edited by Liteweight; 10-29-2012 at 02:55 PM.

10-30-2012, 07:50 PM	#1975
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Liteweight, have you tried that fellow who writes those Super Stock authenticity books, (Darrel Davis) because he used to work for Chrysler apparently and has a ton of documentation from them...he also has access to the IBM cards that verifies all of the factory race cars they built...maybe give him a shot, it can't hurt.

10-30-2012, 09:21 PM	#1976
Liteweight VIP Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,280 Likes: 23 Liked 31 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Haven't tried that yet, Great idea. Will get back with results. Thanx HM Hey, any idea where Paul C. is hiding??? liteweight

11-10-2012, 05:21 PM	#1977
fatboy1875 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 3 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information my name is Noah Lutman, my father-in-law was friends/worked with Doug Warren and originally painted "checkmate"! His name is Barry Pell, they worked together at Bill Binko Chrysler. Barry has pictures of the car before paint but not after, and would like to see if anyone has pictures of the car. Thank You!

11-10-2012, 05:33 PM	#1978
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Here's a couple of the '68 Hemi Barracuda called 'Checkmate'...

11-10-2012, 06:15 PM	#1980
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Noah, the old Checkmate B029 Hemi Barracuda was for sale last year at Mecum auction... http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de...=FL0111-103147